Pathway To Becoming a STAG & Beyond

You don’t have to leave Southland to find a pathway to becoming a professional rugby player. That is the message Rugby Southland Academy Manager David Hall will promoting to the Southland public later this month.

In a Southland first, Rugby Southland Academy and SIT Zero Fees Southland Stags coaching staff will combine to put the regions best up and coming secondary school rugby talents to the test.

On November 30th, 42 of the regions best 16 and 17 year old’s will converge on ILT Stadium Southland for a the first of two ‘Muster Day’s .

The aim is to put the athletes through their paces and introduce them to what it takes to be a professional in rugby. This will include an introduce to our pathway and where the athletes sit.

There will be mental skills and nutrition in the classroom followed by the testing of strength, fitness and speed. Then out on to the field to do both technical and tactical development skills.

All parents will be invited to sit in on the classroom sessions covering nutrition, mental skills and the introduction to our pathway.

All athletes will be sent away over the holiday break with a clear expectations of what the Academy and Southland Stags coaches would like to see progress in.

The group, along with additional players will re assemble in late February/Early March 2020 for further development and testing. Rugby Southland Academy Manager David Hall knows this will become a very important part of our pathway over the coming years.

We will be able to see which athletes have put in the effort and work required over that 2-3 month period.

From there we will select players for our Pre Academy program in March, who will train and earn the right to be selected for the Highlander U18 camp.

From this camp players will be nominated for NZ Schools.

The next steps after this will be into the Year 1 Academy- This will have a focus on the U19 program

Year 2 Academy- Player is 18-24 months away from M10

Year 3 Academy- Player is 6-12 months away from M10

Our best performers at the Highlanders U18 camp will be invited in to train with the M10 squad during the M10 campaign.

It is the goal of Rugby Southland to create a clear understanding for our rugby community around the pathway to professional rugby, and with further Highlanders development programs being discussed by the union, it certainly is an exciting time for rugby in the deep south!